Keen puts Alex Job Porsche on GTC Pole at Petit Le Mans

BRASELTON, Ga, (Oct. 19, 2012) - Leh Keen put the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche on the GTC pole for Alex Job Racing. Keen, Cooper MacNeil and Dion von Moltke will head the GTC field in tomorrow's running of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) season finale Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta.

GTC pole winner Leh Keen celebrates with teammate Cooper MacNeil

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Keen (Charleston, SC) turned in a time of 1:24.060 on his second lap to get the pole position in the WeatherTech Porsche. The team led all four of the practice sessions leading up to qualify, except one. MacNeil (Hindsdale, IL) has already been crowned the ALMS GTC Driver Champion at Virginia International Raceway last month. Von Moltke (South Africa) joins the duo for the last race and has already won a race, in the companion car, at Sebring with the team at the beginning of the year.

"It doesn't get much better than pole at Petit Le Mans," Keen said. "Wednesday afternoon I knew we had a good car. It drove well right off the truck, and I knew then I had a chance for the pole. We just made some minor tweaks on the car to really get it fast for qualifying. We had a little qualifying package on it, but our race set up on used tires is within a half second of our pole time, so we are ready. The WeatherTech Porsche has been fast all weekend. The important part is tomorrow. We have 10 hours of racing on Saturday. Alex and his team put a great car under me, and it is a pleasure to drive."

MacNeil is getting himself reacclimated to Road Atlanta, but has a good car and good team behind him.

"My laps have been good, fairly hectic with all the traffic out there," MacNeil said. "I haven't been to Road Atlanta in about four years, and it takes a little time to learn this place again. The WeatherTech Porsche is fast. Leh just put it on the pole. We have led just about every practice session so far, except for one. The team is ready. Starting the race on the pole makes it our race to lose. The strategy for the race is to run fast, run clean, and if we can do that we will be on top of the podium tomorrow."

Von Moltke is joining the championship winning effort, looking to add a Petit Le Mans win to his Sebring win earlier in the season.

"The WeatherTech Porsche has been running great all week," von Moltke said. "The team has been fantastic. Having two awesome teammates like Cooper and Leh have made my life a lot easier getting back up to speed in the Porsche. We have a really good race car. We didn't really expect the pole, but Leh put in a great lap. The team has focused on race set up, and we have a great car. Petit is a really tough race to run clean, with the big field and traffic. You want to keep all of the fenders on the car and stay out of pit lane, except for fuel, tires and a fresh driver. That is really the strategy. Whoever stays out of trouble will win the race. It won't be out right speed."

Alex Job, team owner, has his teamed positioned well for 10 hours of racing tomorrow.

"Leh put in a great lap in qualifying," Job said. "He was really motivated this week to the get the pole. The team put a good car under him, and he did the rest. Cooper and Dion are running fast as well. The three of them are getting along well and really like the way the car is running. Even though we have already won the championship, Petit is the second biggest race of the year, and the guys want to win it!"